Updated October 14, 2026. Written for DesignCraft 0.7.1 (what changed since).
A folded, stapled booklet takes five steps in DesignCraft, all in the browser: create a document with facing pages and a page count that divides by four, put page numbers on the parent page, lay out each page, choose File › Print Booklet…, then print the PDF it downloads on both sides of the paper. Print Booklet does the hard part. On an 8-page booklet, the first sheet carries pages 8 and 1 side by side, its back carries 2 and 7, and so on, so the stack folds into the right order. No account, no watermark, and the pages never leave your computer.
Pick a page size that fits your paper
Each printed sheet holds two booklet pages side by side, so the booklet page is half of the sheet you print on. Start from the preset that matches your printer paper:
| Preset in New Document | Booklet page | Print on |
|---|---|---|
| Letter - Half | 5.5 × 8.5 in | US Letter, landscape |
| A5 | 148 × 210 mm | A4, landscape |
| A6 | 105 × 148 mm | A5, landscape (or A4 cut in half) |
| Letter | 8.5 × 11 in | Tabloid (11 × 17 in), landscape |
Half Letter and A5 print on the Letter or A4 paper already in a home printer, so they are the easy place to start.
Set up the document
- Open the editor and click New file, or choose File › New Document….
- Choose the preset from the table above. Print presets switch on Facing Pages, which shows left and right pages as spreads, the way the reader will see them.
- Set Pages to a multiple of four: 8, 12, 16 or 20. Each folded sheet makes four pages. If you end up with 10, Print Booklet adds two blank pages at the back, which is usually not where you want them.
- Set the margins. Inside is the margin at the fold and Outside the one at the open edge.
- Leave Bleed at zero if you print at home: Print Booklet places pages edge to edge and trims each to its page size. Set a bleed only if a print shop will make the booklet (see the last section).
Add page numbers on the parent page
Anything on a parent page appears on every page that uses it, which makes it the place for folios and running heads. In the Pages panel, double-click A-Parent at the top. Draw a small text frame near the bottom outside corner of the left page, then choose Type › Insert Special Character › Markers › Current Page Number. Do the same on the right page. Click any document page in the panel to go back, and each page shows its own number.
The cover usually shouldn't show a number. A full-page picture frame on the cover sits above the parent-page items and hides it.
Lay out the pages
Work page by page. Draw a frame with the Rectangle Frame tool, then File › Place… to fill it with a photo, drawing or scan (PNG, JPEG, TIFF, PSD, SVG or PDF). For text, draw a frame with the Type tool and type, paste, or place a Word, RTF or plain-text file into it.
Long text needs care. DesignCraft can't yet link one text frame to another by hand, so a story won't continue from page 3 into a frame you drew on page 4. Two ways around it:
- Short pieces per page. Zines, menus, programs and portfolios work naturally this way: each page has its own frames.
- Primary Text Frame. Tick it in the New Document dialog and DesignCraft puts a margin-sized text frame on every page, all threaded into one story. Text you place or paste into it flows on and adds pages as it grows, which suits a booklet that is mostly reading. Check the page count afterwards and round it up to a multiple of four.
The browser version has five fonts: Source Serif 4 and Source Sans 3 make a good pair for body text and headings, Inter suits a modern look, and JetBrains Mono a typewriter-style zine. The desktop app can use the fonts installed on your computer. If you need a cover image or a few lines of copy, the AI panel in the editor generates pictures and text and places them into the selected frame.
Save often with File › Save, which downloads a .designcraft file. The browser version has no autosave.
Export the booklet PDF
Choose File › Print Booklet…. It downloads a PDF straight away; this release has no options dialog. The PDF has one landscape page per side of paper, with your booklet pages arranged for saddle stitching (folded and stapled through the spine). An 8-page booklet becomes four PDF pages:
| PDF page | Left half | Right half | Printed as |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Page 8 (back cover) | Page 1 (front cover) | Sheet 1, front |
| 2 | Page 2 | Page 7 | Sheet 1, back |
| 3 | Page 6 | Page 3 | Sheet 2, front |
| 4 | Page 4 | Page 5 | Sheet 2, back |
The booklet PDF has no bleed and no crop marks, because it is meant for printing on a desktop printer and folding. One kind of zine it doesn't make: the single-sheet, eight-page zine that is folded and cut in the middle needs a different page order, so lay that one out by hand on one landscape page.
Print, fold and staple
The web build has no print command, so open the downloaded PDF in your browser or PDF viewer and print it from there. Choose two-sided printing and set it to flip on the short edge (on a Mac, Short-Edge binding), because the sheets are landscape. Print at 100% on paper of the matching size.
Print one sheet first and check it: page 2 should be on the back of the cover. If the back side comes out upside down, switch between short-edge and long-edge flipping. With no duplex printer, print the odd PDF pages, put the stack back in the tray, and print the even ones.
Stack the sheets in order with sheet 1 on the outside, fold them together, and staple twice through the fold. A long-reach stapler reaches the fold of a Letter or A4 sheet.
Sending it to a print shop instead
A print shop needs a different file. Set a bleed in File › Document Setup, extend backgrounds to the red bleed line, and export a PDF/X-4 with crop marks. Ask the shop whether it wants single pages or spreads; the Export PDF dialog does both. The settings are in how to export a print-ready PDF.
A good first project is an 8-page Half Letter or A5 booklet: two sheets of paper, one staple run, and you will see how the page order works before you start on a longer one.